In this tutorial, you will learn how to use the FREQUENCY function in Google Sheets.
How to Use FREQUENCY Function in Google Sheets
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The FREQUENCY function in Google Sheets can be a powerful tool for quickly analyzing data sets. The function is often used to create frequency tables which allow you to see how your data is distributed. The table is composed of a certain number of classes or intervals of data with a count of the number in each class.
For example, you may have a sample dataset of patients in a hospital.
You can use the FREQUENCY function to calculate how the ages of the patients are distributed. With the frequency table, you can answer questions like “how many patients are between 20-29” or “how many patients are over 65?”.
This guide will show you how to use the FREQUENCY function in Google Sheets to get a frequency table given a range of values and a list of set classes.
How to Calculate the Frequency Distribution of an Array in Google Sheets
Let’s learn how to calculate the frequency distribution of an array in Google Sheets by using the FREQUENCY function.
Step 1
First, identify the dataset you want to count the frequencies of. You must also create a range of cells that indicate the intervals or bins to use when counting.
In the example above, the range B2:B6 defines the intervals to group the values in column A. In this case, we have 6 intervals: values 18 and below, values between 19-30, values between 31- and 40, values between 41 and 50, values between 51 and 65, and values greater than 65.
Step 2
Type the formula “=FREQUENCY(“ to start the FREQUENCY function.
Step 3
For the first argument of the FREQUENCY function, indicate the range you want to count values from.
In this example, we’ll use the values in the cell range A2:A17.
Step 4
Next, provide an array or reference that determines the intervals to use for counting the frequency.
In this example, we want to use the values under the classes column. Do note that it is preferred for the interval values to be arranged in ascending order. However, Google Sheets will still sort the values if they are not arranged in order.
Step 5
Hit the Enter key to evaluate the function.
In this example, we were able to output the frequencies of each interval. However, the user will still need to provide a label for each class.
Step 6
After supplying a label for each interval, we can now have a better picture of the frequency distribution of our dataset.
In our example, it seems that the class with the most individuals is the “18 below” group.
Summary
This guide should be everything you need to use the FREQUENCY function in Google Sheets.
You may make a copy of this example spreadsheet to test it out on your own.